John Oliver Brilliantly Takes Down Hypocrisy Of Syrian Refugee Fearmongerin...

John Oliver Brilliantly Takes Down Hypocrisy Of Syrian Refugee Fearmongering

In the wake of the Paris attacks, there’s been a lot of hysteria around the world about Syrian refugees and whether they should still be allowed into countries across Europe and North America.

Naturally, some U.S. governors have gone absolutely batshit crazy in their bid to try and prevent people from coming into the country, including calling for tougher screening procedures for Syrian refugees, after unconfirmed reports that one of the attackers in the French capital may have managed to get across the border by posing as a refugee with a Syrian passport.

So leave it, once again, to comedian John Oliver to completely rip apart any of the ignorant arguments against immigration on Last Week Tonight in his usual eloquent and hilarious way.

Besides pointing out that six of the nine attackers in Paris were French or Belgian citizens, he also says that terrorists would actually have a much easier time getting into the U.S. by posing as European tourists than as Syrian refugees.

Why? Well, just listen to him describe the vetting process that Syrian refugees actually have to go through in order to make it into America, which includes security screenings by the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Syria Enhanced Review, and USCIS. And that’s just for starters!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtc5trma1NQ

As he concludes:

All of that has to happen before you get near a plane. This process typically takes 18 to 24 months once you’ve been referred by the UN to the United States. This is the most rigorous vetting anyone has to face before entering this country. No terrorist in their right mind would choose this path when the visa process requires far less effort.

So it turns out it isn’t actually that simple to sneak across the border, after all.

Oliver also threw in this magnificent bombshell for good measure:

Every generation has had its own ugly reaction to refugees, whether the Irish, Vietnamese, Cubans or Haitians, and those fears have been broadly unfounded. In fact there was only one time in American history when the fear of refugees wiping everyone out did actually come true — and we’ll all be sitting around a table celebrating it on Thursday.